The Internet, and specifically the World Wide Web, is used to distribute information such as news, product reviews, and literature to vast audiences. Distributors of this information typically do not charge a fee, but instead its cost may be underwritten by advertising. As with all advertiser-supported media, advertisers generally want to learn as much as possible about the customer. For example, advertisers like to know audience demographics (e.g., average age, gender distribution, etc.) to more accurately choose appropriate advertisements, while editors like to know audience preferences (e.g., favorite kinds of stories, most-read sections) to create more appealing content. The process of measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage is called web analytics.
There are several existing mechanisms in HTTP to support the collection of customer information. For example, one method of collection utilizes the voluntary registration process, which may involve a customer providing personal information in exchange for access to otherwise restricted media content. Passive tracking may also be used as an alternative or supplement to the voluntary registration process.
Passive tracking may provide information about the requests made by a customer accessing a web site, the information including such things as pages visited, data entered, and links clicked. There exists in the art well known methods and systems for passively tracking user activity. For example, the products SiteCatalyst® by Omniture, Inc. and Analytics™ by Coremetrics collect data regarding user interaction with web site data, and transmit that activity data to an interested party.
A program embedded into a webpage may be used to passively track user activity. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,763,386 entitled “Method and Apparatus for Tracking Client Interaction with a Network Resource Downloaded from a Server,” describes one method of embedding a program into a webpage to passively track user activity. When a user loads a webpage the program loads along with the other web components (graphics, text, video, etc.). During a web browsing session, the program monitors the user interaction with web components and reports the interaction data to a third party.
Another example of passive tracking may consist of a program embedded into the user's web browser. The embedded program allows for activity tracking anytime a user interacts with the web browser or web pages accessed by the web browser. One example of an embedded program is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,590,568 entitled “Content Display Monitor.”
Yet another example of passive tracking may consist of a “cookie” installed on a user's computer. One example of a cookie being used to passively track user activity is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,370 entitled “Internet Website Traffic Flow Analysis Using Timestamp Data.”
Such passive tracking usually involves a collection of the user's information, and may include any number of user actions on-line or over a computer network, such as viewing a web page, clicking on an advertisement, performing a web search based on one or more keywords, etc. After a collecting entity receives this data advertisements may then be targeted or displayed to such users based on this collected data.
Users have become aware of passive tracking means to gather information about them. In an effort to protect their own privacy, users routinely block the passive tracking and reporting of their activity, thus severing a crucial means for advertisers and other businesses to obtain information about users. As a result of users blocking passive tracking and reporting, advertisers and other businesses lose the ability to improve products and offerings.
There exists a need to motivate users to allow tracking and reporting of their activity to interested third parties.